CSMAC in Early Stages of Looking at Potential Big Changes to How Spectrum Is Regulated
Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee members stressed Tuesday that the Spectrum Strategy Governance Subcommittee's work on potential major changes to federal oversight of spectrum is very preliminary (see 2001270046). The subcommittee updated CSMAC at the group’s quarterly meeting.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!
“In the absence of a final national spectrum strategy, we put forward our best ideas for improving spectrum governance,” said subcommittee co-Chair Jennifer Manner, EchoStar senior vice president-regulatory affairs. The initial report looks at domestic governance, but CSMAC also needs to explore international governance, she said. The group has been meeting since September, she said.
“At this point we’re just listing options,” said co-Chair Mary Brown, Cisco senior director-technology and spectrum policy. “The committee has not evaluated these options in the sense of discussing pros and cons at this point. Many of you will probably have opinions.” In the next stage, the subcommittee will offer more of an evaluation of each option, she said. Much work remains to flesh out how the proposals would be implemented, Brown said. Options include creating a new spectrum agency, giving either the FCC or NTIA more authority, or an enhanced memorandum of understanding between NTIA and FCC.
“We may have to reevaluate this at the point at which the national spectrum strategy is reached,” Brown said: “We need to make sure what we’re doing here is relevant, but that’s sort of our next phase of work.”
Manner started the presentation by acknowledging that “our country’s current approach for managing the use of spectrum is no longer effectively serving the needs of the entire stakeholder community and would benefit from reform.”
CSMAC co-Chair Jennifer Warren, Lockheed Martin vice president-technology, policy and regulation, said there has already been lots of discussion, with many CSMAC members participating. “People brought in a lot of passion and ideas and thoughts to this,” she said. “These are just ideas. These are not recommendations.”
Charles Cooper, associate administrator of the NTIA Office of Spectrum Management, told CSMAC the launch of commercial operations (see 2001270025) in the citizens broadband radio service band is important for the future of mid-band spectrum and will advance the understanding of sharing with federal systems. “NTIA has been working closely with the FCC throughout the past year,” he said. “The process is essentially complete and the way is clear for commercial rollout and an eventual FCC auction in June of the priority access licenses.”
Cooper said DOD still hopes to be reimbursed for its costs for the transition to sharing. The FCC denied the band is subject to Commercial Spectrum Enhancement Act reimbursement requirements (see 1909270059). DOD submitted a transition plan that the Technical Committee OK'd late last year, he noted. NTIA will soon post the plan, Cooper said. Cooper and the NTIA declined further comment.
NTIA is also still reviewing the 3100-3550 MHz band, Cooper said. “We are reviewing the entire band, which is a critical band for DOD radars that are in turn critical for national defense,” he said. “High-powered defense radar systems operate on broad-based, shipborne and airborne platforms, making this band pretty complex in terms of sharing analysis.”
The use of the band is also widespread, Cooper said. NTIA released a preliminary report on the band's top part Monday (see 2001270049). Cooper said that part offers the most promise for sharing. A report to Congress on the entire band is “presently under internal review” at NTIA, he said.